Fake Tales of San Diego

Here are the highlights of the San Diego trip, according to me:

Best Restaurant: The Fish Market

The thing I most looked forward to on this trip was getting some good seafood. I wanted fish tacos, freshly caught fish, maybe some sashimi. At The Fish Market, I got a sampler platter of steamed fish. Mom got Mahi Mahi. Wendy got fish and chips. We shared an appetizer of oysters on the half shell.

Best Dessert: Extraordinary Desserts

Monday we skipped lunch to spend some extra time in the Balboa Park Museums. To make up for it, we got an afternoon dessert. I tried the Gianduia, which was fabulous. I wonder if Karen Krasne would let me intern with her. The Orange-Cranberry Scones from Whole Foods were a close runner-up. I'm addicted to those things.

Best Site: Balboa Park

The buildings, gardens, and museums were spectacular. It's amazing to see a public space so vast and beautiful. The Museum of Man was my favorite museum. The Natural History Museum had an interesting exhibit on the Dead Sea Scrolls. My trip souvenir was a box of Chuao Chocolatier bonbons with Middle Eastern flavors. Unfortunately, the art museum was closed on the day we were at Balboa. Runner-up San Diego Zoo was much more fun than I expected.

Best Spot to Tan: Coronado Beach

It's been much too long since I've put my toes in the Pacific Ocean. It's been almost as long since my body has seen the sun. I figured it was my last chance to get some sun before the end of summer. I'll be finding sand in my wallet for weeks.

Best Laugh: Many-way Tie

There were many funnies, as there are whenever I'm around. One funny moment was when Wendy made a quick turn and smacked her face into a glass panel in the trolley. Another was when a passenger got on the trolley and sang a rap loudly, but pretty well, actually, about the border and being in jail. A street performer with considerably less talent was playing the violin, and we were unlucky enough to catch his performance two separate times in two separate locations. He was playing an out of tune scale or something else unrecognizable.

I wore my Make Cupcakes Not War shirt and got a few reactions, the most memorable of which was on the trolley. An older man with some issues got on and sat down facing me. "Make cupcakes not war," he read aloud. "I like pie. I like cherry pie. I buy day old cherry pies every Thursday. What day is this?" Then he proceeded to read my shirt aloud again, this time by pointing his finger at each letter on my chest. I kept thinking, "I don't care how old this guy is. One inch closer and I'll deck him."

It's nice to be back home just in time for the start of football season. I want my next trip to be a Feasting on Asphalt tour. I know I could travel the back roads of Texas and come up with some interesting finds. Maybe I could even do it on a motorcycle.